Vice mayor says vote for Mick

To the Editor:

First District Supervisor Candidate Mick Gleason has demonstrated that he is the best choice to be our representative.

By his move to our district, his dedication to countless community organizations and his diligence in lobbying for local representation at the national level, I believe he has proved that he has our best interest at heart. And our current elected leadership have selected him as the person they want to work with.

It is worth noting that Gleason quit a good job to run for this office. In the meanwhile, I wonder whether his opponent Roy Ashburn — after terming out of the state legislature and being rejected by voters to represent them in Congress — is looking out for our district or looking for a job. Since Ashburn all but disappeared from his district during his 14 years in the state legislature, his sudden interest in our area strikes me as suspiciously self-serving. (Even our congresman visits several times a year. Does anyone remember seeing Ashburn until he recently began looking for a job?)

Ashburn’s supporters are touting his experience as his primary qualification for representing us. Google this man, look at his history and his voting record, and decide whether that is the kind of experience you are looking for in a leader.

Mick Gleason has laid his life on the line as a veteran (fighter pilot in Iraq), proved himself capable of running a large, diverse organization (commanding officer of China Lake) and knows how to inspire collaboration in any group he is a part of.

Gleason’s work with our current elected leadership has already earned him the endorsements of Kevin McCarthy, Jean Fuller and Shannon Grove. These are the people he will work with — not the retired Bakersfield politicians who have backed Gleason’s opponent.